Number 9 bus diverted as crash closes Windmill Hill, Cradley

The incident happened in Windmill Hill in the early hours of this morning (Sunday March 3).

West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service have been working at the scene – with the fire service reporting that the incident had left the road closed.

Firefighters at the scene in Windmill Hill after a car ploughed into a building (Image: Kash Khan - Cradley and Wollescote Lib Dem community campaigner)

Traffic reports said the smash had left the A458 blocked both ways "due to an unsafe building" between Colley Orchard and Beecher Road, with the number 9 bus diverted.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said of the incident: "A car crashed into a building on Windmill Hill just after 3.30am this morning.

"A 20-year-old man was detained and the road was closed while the fire service assisted with making the building safe."

A car ploughed into a barber's shop in Windmill Hill, Cradley, at around 3.30am on Sunday March 3 (Image: Kash Khan - Cradley and Wollescote Lib Dem community campaigner)

The police said the vehicle has since been recovered.

Council structural engineers are believed to have been alerted regarding the safety of the building - a barber's shop.

Cradley and Wollescote Liberal Democrat campaigner Kash Khan said a resident living above the damaged shop had been evacuated due to the state of the building after what he described as a “terrible crash”.

He said he would be calling for safety railings to be installed to stop such an incident happening again and he added: "Luckily the driver is in hospital stable condition.”

He praised the efforts of firefighters who have worked to try to make the building safe but said the popular barber's shop would likely be closed for a while.